1. Field of Disclosed Subject Matter
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for detecting and localizing positions of output image forming devices in office workspace environments using location reference data from one or more mobile devices in wireless contact with the output image forming devices for image forming operations.
2. Related Art
Many mobile wireless devices include applications for communicating with output image forming devices to cause the output image forming devices to form hard-copy output images on image receiving media based on electronic data and/or instructions transmitted to the output image forming devices from the mobile wireless devices. These capabilities are being increasingly beneficially employed in modern office workspace environments to increase efficiency and productivity for individual users in carrying out assigned tasks that involve, for example, printing documents on available printing devices that may be individually accessed by the users via their mobile wireless devices. An ability to direct the printing of documents on an opportune printing device from a mobile wireless device, such as, for example, a smartphone or tablet device, frees individual users from being tied to their workspaces and specifically to a static workstation in the office workspace environment. Individual user workstations associated with individual users will no longer act as anchors to the individual users in optimizing their individual productivity. Additionally, users often access output image forming devices that are remote from their normal office workspace environment to conduct “mobile” image forming operations.
In order to gain maximum advantage in exploiting the described capabilities, users must be able to relatively easily establish communication between the mobile wireless device and any readily available output image forming device. A prerequisite to directing output image forming operations on a specific output image forming device based on commands and data sent from a mobile wireless device is the establishing of communications between the mobile wireless device and the output image forming device. When trying to print to a specific printer using a smartphone or tablet device, for example, the user must be either on a same wireless subnet as the printer, or must specifically enter an IP address of the printer for the location and to establish direct communication with the printer. In most scenarios, it is generally considered impractical that a mobile wireless device be on a same subnet because the large population of user wireless devices likely does not support required protocols.